


Swan Song

by EmberForge



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, Friendship, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Minor Injuries, Spoilers for Campaign 2 Episode 26, The Iron Shepards, but it’s still FRESH you know?, fuck lorenzo, the warning happened before the fic technically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-29 01:56:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18297932
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmberForge/pseuds/EmberForge
Summary: It really was only a matter of time, he thought, before he experienced visual hallucinations as well as auditory ones.A brief moment during Fjord’s time with the Iron Shepards.





	Swan Song

He started hearing Jester sing mere hours after the had been shuffled into the compound and shoved into the dark depths of the basement. They started out in the upper basement, thrown into a cage together with two others- a human child and an older male half-elf. They were all bound, of course, and Fjord and Jester were kept gagged to prevent any magic, but Jester's fiery spirit couldn't be contained. She hummed to keep herself occupied. To annoy the guards. To comfort the child. They were mostly tunes that Fjord recognized- some from his childhood, others from late nights at rowdy pubs. Even a couple he remembered from his sailing days. 

Some guards allowed it more than others, and they quickly learned who would tune her out and who would use hot iron to shut her up. It still didn't deter her spirit, though; instead, she just became smarter about when she did it. Even her humming had a beautiful melody to it, and Fjord would sing along to the tunes in his head until he could practically imagine her singing them word for word. Sometimes, after the guards got bored and decided to rough them up a little, he would hear her as clear as a bell, even though her mouth was still filled with leather.

It took a day before Lorenzo himself showed up in their basement prison. It was then that Jester, Yasha, and Fjord were removed from their cage to be brought down to the sub-basement to become "special projects." Fjord could remember fighting against their grasp; seeing Yasha snarl and twist, and Jester kick and flail. He remembered them falling limp as some kind of spell took hold, and being locked into cells. He remembered trying to fight against being strapped to a table, unsuccessfully, and then seeing Lorenzo's grinning face above him. He remembered the pain most of all.

It's the last thing he remembered.

Fjord’s first reintroduction to consciousness came with the sensation of fingers probing at the side of his face. He instinctively flinched away from the touch, wincing as his head throbbed in protest at the sudden movement. 

"Oh my. They've really done a number on you, haven't they?"

Through a huge concentration of will, Fjord managed to crack his eyes open to stare at the nosy intruder. When his blurry vision focused, he was met with the site of a familiar purple tiefling.

"...Molly?"

It hurt to speak. It was slightly surprising to be able to speak, actually; he just barely managed to notice as Molly tossed a gag to the side of the cell. Fjord felt the bruise on his jaw pulse as he opened his mouth and winced at the sensation. Molly seemed to notice, and his eyes shone with sympathy. Fjord glanced at his surroundings, but noticed that the barred door was still firmly shut, with Jester bound and unconscious at the other side of the cell. Things weren't adding up. "You're not really here, are you?" he asked. The sad smile he got in response was all the confirmation he needed.

It really was only a matter of time, Fjord thought, before he experienced visual hallucinations as well as auditory ones.

He could feel blood crusted onto the side of his face and slowly soaking into the remains of his shirt from the cuts all over his body. His nose was probably broken, as well as possibly a rib or two, and most certainly a few fingers. He tried to roll on his side in an attempt to get to his knees, only to fail as a sharp spike of pain hit him, making him abort the movement as he felt his body tremor.

"You shouldn't try to move. You're in a bad state." Molly told him.

Fjord grit his teeth and tried to brace himself. "...wanna sit up. Keep what dignity I can for the next time he comes around."

"Well, then let me help you before you puncture a lung."

Warm hands helped to slowly manoeuvre him into an upright position against the stone wall. It turned out to take a lot more energy than Fjord was expecting, and he had to take a few minutes to breathe once it was done. Molly just sat next to him, rubbing small circles on his back.

After a few minutes, Fjord watched Molly pull out an embroidered square of cloth, which he wet with the contents of his hip flask. He brought it up to Fjord's face, and Fjord wasn't expecting the vicious biting pain that the contact caused. He heard a keening sound come out of his mouth as he flinched backward in pain, and Molly quickly brought up a hand to hold his chin in place as he methodically cleaned the injury. "Sorry," Molly murmured as he worked. "The last thing I filled my flask with was some of Nott's booze. At least it'll help with infection."

"You're not _here_.” It came out sounding more desperate than Fjord expected. He was cold and in pain, and none of this made any sort of sense.

"No, I'm not. Not really. But stranger things have happened, haven't they?"

Fjord closed his eyes tightly, unable to rub at the headache that was beginning to form behind his eyes. “...Fuck.”

“Yeah, that about sums it up, I suppose.”

Molly came to settle at Fjord’s side again, and the feeling of another shoulder pressed against his was a comfort in the dark, cold space.

"It's all my fault." Fjord said.

Molly turned to look at him. “No it’s not.”

"If I had been doing my job instead of talking to Yasha, none of this would've happened.”

“Fjord,” Molly said, readjusting so that Fjord didn’t have to strain to see him. “These guys are bad news. It wouldn’t have mattered what you were doing. It wouldn’t have even mattered if it was someone else on watch. There was no way we would’ve ever been prepared for that.”

I just... I feel so fuckin’ useless,” Fjord said, frustrated.

“Oh, you’re far from useless,” Molly replied instantly. “Right now? You give Jester hope. Comfort, too, just by being here with her. She doesn’t exactly do too well alone. And in a place like this? I don’t think she’d survive it.”

Fjord followed Molly’s gaze over to the sleeping tiefling., and his face fell. “I wish I could get us out of here.”

“Stay strong, my friend. Help is on the way.”

Fjord felt something dripping down his face. He swiped at it, and was surprised to find tears instead of blood. He suddenly felt exhausted, though the tears stopped as quickly as they started. He leaned against Molly a little, and the tiefling put an arm around his shoulders and gave him a gentle squeeze. “You should get some sleep,” he told Fjord. 

“Don't wanna sleep." Fjord mumbled.

“You could use the rest.”

"Afraid I won't wake up." Fjord’s voice cracked on the last two words, fear evident. Molly just pulled him in even closer.

"You will. It's not your time yet."

Molly started humming, and soon he was singing a soft, lilting tune, reminding Fjord of a lullaby from childhood that he could only half recall. He felt his eyes dropping against his will, and the last thing he remembers before drifting off into unconsciousness is the feeling of lips pressing just below his hairline.

When he awakens, the gag is back in his mouth. Hours after, they’re rescued by their friends. Part of him knows as soon as Molly’s absence is evident what has happened. But his forehead still burns with the memory of a kiss, and when he looks into a mirror later that evening, his face is surprisingly clean. When he reaches up he finds it slightly sticky with cheap booze.

**Author's Note:**

> Was Molly really there? Look, I like to think the Raven Queen was nice and let a little magic happen to help comfort his friends. It’s fanfic so I can do what I want (and I want Molly to go full Tenth Doctor to see his friends one last time.)


End file.
